


Cans of Tuna and Redemption Arcs

by TippenFunkaport



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is a golden retriever, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, CATaDOGa AU, Cat Owner Glimmer, Catra is a literal cat, Cats, Dating, Dog Owner Bow, Dogs, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Glimbow Centric, Kissing, Meet-Cute, Pets, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tumblr: Glimbow Week, cat owner - Freeform, dog owner, soulmates (kinda)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26639554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TippenFunkaport/pseuds/TippenFunkaport
Summary: Pure fluff modern AU in which Catra is Glimmer's literal pet cat and Adora is Bow's golden retriever and they all meet cutely. One shot that raged out of control.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Bow (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 183
Kudos: 547
Collections: Glimbow Week 2020 countdown collection





	1. Glimmer's POV

"OK, one second, you little nightmare beast, I'm getting it!" Glimmer nudged Catra away from the pantry door with her foot and the angry little floof hissed at her and took a swipe at her ankles. Luckily, she had a lot of practice living with the world's most evil cat and dodged before her claws connected. "I know dinner is late! I'm sorry I got caught on that call, but it was with a very important client."

"Which flavor rations would you like tonight, your majesty? The gray kind?" She opened the pantry which was mostly empty aside from cat food and litter and grabbed a can of tuna. She dumped the contents into Catra's dish. Catra was on up on the counter, gobbling it up a minute later. 

"You're welcome!" Glimmer said, reaching over to scratch Catra's head. Catra ducked out of her reach and hissed before going back to her dinner. 

Glimmer sighed. "You're lucky I love you, you little brat."

Now, what was the fastest way to feed her own body with the least amount of effort? She'd gotten all caught up in this project and forgotten to eat again until now it was stupid late and her stomach was pissed at her. Unfortunately, she'd also put off getting groceries for too long and she couldn't do takeout again unless she wanted to ask her parents for money which she absolutely refused to do, not after they'd been so smug about her inability to survive out here on her own. 

Which, honestly, they were probably right about. She might be surviving but she wasn't exactly thriving. Sometimes she wanted to admit defeat and go back to the ample comforts of her parent’s house. She was barely making enough to afford this tiny apartment and her work hours were too erratic for her to have much of a social life. How are you supposed to meet anyone if you work from home anyway? 

At this point, her entire social circle consisted of Catra who would probably eat her if the chance presented itself and not even wait until she was dead. Evil kitty. You would think you'd be a little more grateful to someone who rescued you from a cardboard applesauce box in the alley but apparently not. 

She had just decided on another exciting dinner of pretzel sticks dipped in tuna fish when she heard a voice outside that made her heart do a flip. She forgot about her belated dinner and peeked through the blinds at the driveway next to hers. Her incredibly cute neighbor, the tall guy who was all biceps and abs, opened the door to his apartment to the enthusiastic greetings of his goofy golden retriever. She could hear him laughing through the screen as the dog jumped all over him, licking his face. 

She sighed. Why couldn't she jump all over him and lick his face? 

She shook her head. This is what it's come to, Glimmer. You're so lonely you're jealous of a dog. 

One of these days, she was going to have her act together enough to get dressed up all cute and go over and introduce herself. Not today, of course, when her hair was two-toned chaos because it had half-grown out and she hadn't gotten around to dying it again. And she did not need abs over there to know that she'd been in her Hello Kitty pajama pants all day with the bottoms shredded to hell thanks to Catra and her faded Paramour shirt which was stained but so soft she couldn't give it up. And she definitely was not letting him in here with a week’s worth of dishes in the sink and cat hair tumbleweeds in every corner. 

No, if she was going to even have a shot with a guy that hot, she was going to need to bring her A-game. 

Oh, hi! I’m Glimmer! From next door? (Sexy hair flip.) You’re just getting in now? Well, I was just going to make myself dinner, would you like to join me? (In this fantasy she actually knew how to cook well enough to impress him which was not even close to the truth but it was her fantasy, damn it!) And then they’d talk all night and realize they were soul-mates in a past life or something and live happily ever after.

She winched as Catra jumped up to join her, digging her claws into her shoulder. "You know, if you were a dog instead of an irredeemable villain, you could help me stage a meet-cute with that guy. This could be your redemption arc, you know. I could take you out for a walk, just happen to run into him and we could talk about dog owner stuff and you could do that thing from the romcoms, where you and the other dog tangle us up in your leashes and— whoa, hey, what are you doing? What's gotten into you? CATRA APPLESAUCE MEOWMEOW, come back here!" 

In a fit of hissing and spitting, Catra had launched herself at the window, popping the screen right out of it and landing in a screeching mess of angry fur in the bushes in front of the building. Before Glimmer could even wonder if her kitty was OK, Catra launched herself out of the bushes and directly at Handsome, who'd been kneeling to clip on his dog’s leash. With a leap, Catra was on the guy's shoulder and he let out a startled cry and stood upright, the leash forgotten. 

Glimmer burst out of her apartment without even bothering to put on shoes. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Let me get her!" 

The guy was winching in pain and Glimmer grabbed at Catra but he moved out of her reach. "Please, don't do that. She is ATTACHED to me!" 

"Ugh! How are you such a nightmare?" Glimmer screamed at Catra but her cat wasn't looking at her. Her eyes were trained on the golden retriever who was growling menacingly at this new threat to her owner. Before either human knew what was happening, Catra launched herself at the dog, landed a scratch on the dog's back, and then took off in the direction of the woods behind the complex, the dog tearing after her. "Goddamn it, Catra!" 

"Adora! Get back here!" Handsome called but his dog didn't listen any better than her cat did. The two of them exchanged a look and took off in the direction their pets had just headed.

"I'm so so so sorry!" She looked over at Handsome whose red windbreaker had several Catra shaped holes in the shoulder. There was no sign of either pet at the edge of the woods and they both exchanged a look and headed beyond the tree line. The sun was starting to set and it was getting hard to see. "Catra was feral when I found her and its been months but she still scratches me all the time and she LIKES me, or at least I think she likes me, it's really hard to tell because she's just this little angry floof but I still love her and if anything happens to her—" She sniffed and wiped her eyes. 

"Hey, it's OK," Handsome said in this really sweet soft tone that was super hot and, goddamn it, not only was he going to think she was a disaster who didn't own real clothes and had a psycho cat that attacked him and his dog, now she was starting to cry and he was going to think she was some kind of emotional loser whose only friend was a cat and the worst part was that he'd be RIGHT. "Adora's just a big lovable doofus. She's not going to hurt your cat, I promise. I'm Bow by the way." 

"Glimmer." She was actually much more worried about Catra hurting Adora than the other way around but it was still sweet that he'd thought to reassure her. 

"You live next door, right? You always seem to be having a dance party when I get home from work."

Oh god. She could die right now. Of course, Handsome Bow from next door had seen her dancing around in her kitchen with her cat. Could she have possibly blown her chances with this guy any worse or what? 

"You've seen that?” She was grateful it was so dark because she was pretty sure she was bright red right now. “It's just that I work weird hours and I don't want to drink coffee this late because it keeps me up so I need a way to wake myself up and I swear I am not just some loser who has nothing better to do than dance around with my cat!"

He laughed. "It's OK. You're a good dancer. I work weird hours too. Most of the time it's just me and my furry bestie. Maybe we should all have a dance party together sometime."

"Uh, yeah. Maybe we should." Was that flirting? Did he just flirt with her? No, she must have misunderstood. It was probably just pity flirting. At least she had her shame to keep her warm because it was getting a lot colder now that the sun was down. It was chilly in just this thin old t-shirt. She shivered. "This is hopeless. I can't see anything. I'm just so worried about her. I know Catra is used to being on her own but it's just so cold tonight."

"You want my jacket?" 

Before she could say anything he'd whipped it off and was holding it out to her. She probably shouldn't take it, right? She'd literally just met this guy five minutes ago and the shirt he had on underneath didn’t even cover his midriff so he probably needed it more than she did. But she was really cold and if she had his jacket on he wouldn't see her gross old t-shirt… "Thank you."

Mmm, his jacket was so warm and smelled really good. Like Boy. God, with how long she'd been single, this felt like first base. Considering this was as far as she was going to get with him, she might as well savor it.

  
(Super cute fan art by https://bonpop.tumblr.com)

"Maybe we should head back and see if they've come home on their own.” He rubbed at the back of his neck and, goddamn, this guy must live at the gym. The moonlight was just like, take a good look at all this muscle you will never get to touch. The universe was just taunting her now. “If they're not there, we'll grab some flashlights and some treats, see if we can get their attention that way." 

She couldn't stop thinking about Catra getting hit by a car or eaten by a coyote or, God, knowing how much trouble Catra could get into, opening a portal to an alternate dimension or something. But she knew he was right. It was getting hard to see and the last thing they needed was to get lost out here. The two of them trudged back to the lights of the parking lot and Glimmer allowed herself a small bit of hope that maybe Catra would be waiting for her on her doorstep. But when her apartment door came into sight, there was no sign of her. 

"Jeez, we took off so fast, I left my door-- Ha! Glimmer, come here!" 

She pulled her eyes away from her empty step to where Bow was standing the light from his front door. He gestured her over with a big grin on his face. She understood why as soon she stepped through the doorway. 

There, cuddled up together in the middle of the floor, was Adora and Catra. Adora had her paw over Catra's middle like she was hugging her and Catra's tail was twitching happily. Glimmer laughed and Catra flicked an ear in her sleep but didn't move. Bow leaned down and pet Adora's ear and she opened her eye long enough to thump her tail on the ground once before snuggling right back down with Catra. 

"Is she... purring?" Glimmer couldn't believe her ears. Never in the six months of having Catra, had she EVER heard her purr. But the little motor sound was unmistakable. 

"Aw, she's so cute!" Bow said and now that they were in the light she noticed that Catra had drawn blood on his shoulder. Damn, if this guy could still call that nightmare beast cute after she'd tried to kill him and his best friend, he was absolutely a keeper. “Look at her little ears!”

“Well, I’m just glad they’re both OK. Sorry again for all the trouble!” 

She shifted her muddy bunny slippers against his welcome mat. She should be leaving. Picking up her angry cat and leaving and going back to her dinner of shame with what was left of her pride. Definitely not trying to check out the rest of this guy’s apartment from where they stood in the entryway like she still had a shot here. It was a testament to the complete disaster her own life was right now that she was unreasonably turned on by how neat and ordered his apartment was. 

“So, it seems like it would be a shame to disturb them since they look so happy.” Bow was fiddling with his keys, his eyes on the floor. “Did you eat dinner yet? Because I was going to make something for myself and it might be nice to have some company. If you're not doing anything, I mean."

Glimmer was suddenly warm enough she didn't need his jacket anymore. Not that she was in any hurry to take it off. "Are you asking me to stay for dinner?"

"Yeah?" He looked over at her and, oh my god, was he nervous? Because it was incredibly adorable. "I promise, I'm a pretty good cook. Or if you’ve got stuff to do tonight, it could be another night. Or, like, a regular thing?" He exhaled and looked over at her with a sheepish smile. "I've actually been meaning to ask you out for weeks but I was just completely intimidated." 

"I'm sorry, wait. YOU were nervous about asking ME out? Me who looks like I climbed out of a dumpster when you're so good looking you look photoshopped?" Oh, shit, she’d just said that out loud, hadn’t she? Whatever, at this point, if she hadn't scared him off with the whole rest of this disaster, she might as well go for it. She stood a little taller in her torn pajama pants. "You know what? Yes. I'd love to stay for dinner. And go out with you. Or… stay in." She flushed. "I meant, you know, since these two are apparently inseparable now." 

"Well, great!" He smiled at her. God, he really was cute. "I'd like that. We could be a whole little squad, have all sorts of adventures!" He started for the kitchen and then paused and flushed. "And, just for the record, I think you look great." 

He disappeared through the kitchen doorway and Glimmer stood there in shock that somehow what had started out as the world's most pathetic evening had ended like this. "You little evil kitty, did you somehow just arrange me a meet-cute after all?" 

Glimmer could have sworn she saw the little demon smile. 


	2. Bow's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had absolutely no intention of continuing this but since you all seemed to like is so much... have one more scene.

Hey, Glimmer. It’s Bow? From next door? (She’s going to remember who you are, dumbass, you only met yesterday!) Anyway, I had a lot of fun hanging out with you last night and I was wondering (Maybe he’d lean on the door-frame all casual, that was a sexy person thing, right?) if you wanted to, uh, make out? (Ugh, no, he couldn’t just say that!) I mean, I really wanted to kiss you when I walked you back to your door last night but you were so funny and cute and amazing and I’m… just so so bad at this. And now I’m afraid you’re going to think I’m not interested when I definitely am, I just have absolutely no game. Is that even a thing people say anymore? Do we still call it game? See, I don’t even know, that’s how bad—Oof!

Bow would have kept jogging right past his apartment complex if Adora hadn’t yanked the leash in the correct direction. At least someone was paying attention. This was almost as bad as the start of their run when he’d run into that telephone pole.

Almost.

“Sorry, girl. I spaced out big time.” They’d been doing this same run every morning, rain or shine, for a year, and he’d never gotten lost going back to his own apartment before. God, he was a mess today.

They slowed to a walk as they reached the parking lot, and he leaned down and scratched behind Adora’s ear. She flopped her head backwards to look at him, her tongue hanging off to the side. It made her look like she had a big goofy grin. His best buddy was a complete doofus, but he loved her.

There was nobody else up at this hour. The only sounds were the jingling of Adora’s collar and the early morning bird gossip. His eyes automatically went to Glimmer’s window. It was kind of crazy to finally have a name for her after so many weeks of thinking of her as “the pretty girl who lived next door.” She’d told him last night she wasn’t a morning person, but he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed when he didn’t see her.

But there was someone in the window. Glimmer had put her screen back up with sparkly pink duct tape, and Catra was glaring at them from behind it. Sheesh, if a cat could give someone the finger…

Adora whimpered and tugged at her leash.

“I know you’re in love with that angry cat, buddy, and I’m happy for you but your enemies to lovers epic romance will have to save the universe another day.”

He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to drag her away, but then an Amazon truck pulled up and Adora remembered her true calling as the savior of the neighborhood. She starting barking like mad at the delivery guy and trying to rip Bow’s arm off to get at him.

“Can you recalibrate this hero complex of yours to understand that sometimes people get packages delivered, and it is not some conspiracy from an evil alien overlord you need to save us all from?” He waved awkwardly to the delivery guy and tugged Adora through their front door. She growled the whole way at the package on their neighbor’s doorstep like the Prime logo was a personal affront. It was a relief when he finally got the door shut behind them.

While Adora bolted for her water dish and second breakfast. Bow kicked his sneakers off into the closet. His windbreaker, the one he’d lent to Glimmer last night, was hanging right in front of him. Would it be weird to see if it still smelled like her? He rubbed his face and opted to exercise self-control.

“Adora, I am a disaster.” He lay down on the carpet in the living room. Adora came bounding over to jump on him like she always did when he got on her level. He pet her head absentmindedly as he stared at the ceiling. “It was one thing before when it was like, ‘Hey, the girl next door is cute!’ But now that I’ve actually gotten to hang out with her and talk to her and stuff and she’s, of course, amazing and funny and smart and even way prettier up close… Damn. I think I might be in love with her.”

Adora got up and walked away from him.

“OK, OK! You’re right. So maybe it’s too soon to say that but, God, I really really like her and I know I barely know her but it was like... I’ve known her for years somehow? And I’ve never met anyone ever that I felt like that about.”

He covered his face with his hands, replaying last night for the zillionth time. After the chaos with their rouge pets, he’d made them dinner, which she’d seemed to like. Then they’d talked for hours at his little kitchen table about everything and nothing. And it was… perfect?

“Can I tell you something? But you can’t laugh at me!” He turned towards the sound of Adora’s collar jingly back into the room.

Adora plopped back down next to his head, her chewy sword between her teeth. She trapped the toy between her paws and looked over as if to say, _I’m listening._

“Last night, Glimmer was helping me with the dishes and we were laughing at you two chasing each other around the kitchen. It was this really mundane moment, but it hit me that, holy crap, this is exactly what it would be like! And as soon as I realized how badly I wanted it, I was completely paralyzed because I didn’t want to screw it up. And when we walked her and Catra back to their apartment there was that weird moment by the door and now I can’t stop thinking… was that my chance? Did I blow it?”

Adora maintained eye contact with him and started chomping down on her toy, squeaking it judgmentally.

“Ugh! I should have kissed her, right?”

The judgmental squeaking only intensified.

“Don’t give me that! It’s easy for you! You’re a dog! I can’t just jump on her and lick her face.” Although… No! Self-control! “Come on, you should be helping me with this! If Glimmer and I get together, you’ll get to see your cat girlfriend all the time. We could be a whole little team of best friends, hang out together all the time, and the strength of our friendship would bring magic back to the universe or something! Oh, who am I kidding? She probably doesn’t even like me.”

Adora stood up and he didn’t know where she went until she dropped her toy directly on his face.

“Bleagh!” It was wet and disgusting, but she had a point. He was wallowing. Nothing like dog breath scented rubber smacking into his face to remind him he still had to shower and send out the minutes from the Maker’s Club meeting. Even if it was his day off, it didn’t mean he could just lie around on the floor all day and contemplate his romantic ineptitude.

“Fine. I’ll stop spiraling! But you better come up with some ideas of how we’re going to win this girl over because if it’s up to me to make the first move, both our love lives are doomed!”

Typing up the meeting minutes took longer than he expected because it had been Entrapta’s turn to run it and, boy, can that girl go ON. By the time he’d finished it was pretty much lunch time.

He was halfway through his sandwich when heard a weird noise from the other room. It was probably just Adora sleeping fighting again, but he went to check anyway. Adora was napping on her dog bed, as expected… but she wasn’t alone. Curled up at the bottom of her bed was… Catra? They both looked up when he walked in.

“Well, hello! You don’t live here?” Bow tried to pick Catra up, but she went boneless and he couldn’t hold on to her. She bit his arm on the way down and disappeared into the living room. Ow! Adora glared at him as if he really should have known better and trotted after Catra.

How did she even get in here? He followed the sounds of hissing back out into the living room and noticed the edge of the window screen was bent up away from the edge. Damn, that cat was much stronger than she looked.

Adora came over as he was assessing the damage, tail wagging. She gave him a look as if to say, _That’s hot, right?_

In the time it took him to clean and bandage his Catra bite and go grab something to bang the screen back into place, Adora and Catra were tearing around the living room, play fighting. At least Adora was play fighting, her tail wagging a mile a minute. Catra, on the other hand, had her claws out. Adora lunged for her and Bow moved between them.

“Do you want to get hit with her claws?” Bow tried to move Catra back with his foot, but Catra leaped over him and took a swipe at Adora. Luckily, she missed, but only because Adora got distracted by the poof of hair on her own tail. Man, he really did not want to spend today at the vet. “Am I the only one who cares about claw safety around here?”

Adora pinned Catra down with her paw and tried to nuzzle into her belly. Catra yowled and closed her paws around Adora’s muzzle like a bear trap.

“Claw safety!” Bow yelled, but Catra must have retracted her claws because Adora wasn’t yelping in pain. Now Adora was rolling around on her back and Catra was climbing all over her. He sighed. Maybe this was just some weird we try to kill each other because “we’re in love and we don’t know how to properly express our feelings” thing he didn’t understand and he should just go finish his lunch.

He glanced out the kitchen window. Glimmer’s car wasn’t outside, so he couldn’t return Catra yet. That was kind of relief since he still had no idea what he was going to say to her. But he should at least tell her what was going on.

He pulled up the text she’d sent him last night, so he’d have her number. Now that he thought about it, she’d given him her number before he’d even gotten up the nerve to ask. That was encouraging, at least!

Bow: _I have your cat._

Hmm, that made it sound like he’d kidnapped Catra and was asking for ransom or something. He deleted it.

Bow: _Hey, it’s Bow. From next door? We met last night? Anyway, Catra got out again but, don’t worry! She’s over here and I’ll make sure to take good care of her until—_

He deleted that one too. He sighed. Maybe he should just send her some emojis, like he was too cool for actual words. God, this would be so much easier if he even knew if she liked him!

Why can’t they just skip ahead to the part where he could be the doting boyfriend who treated her like a Queen? Like romance and kisses and stuff? He was great at that part!

Adora appeared beside him, making heart eyes at his sandwich.

“I was wondering when you’d come in here, you bottomless pit.” He pulled out some turkey and tossed it to her. Catra jumped up on his shoulder. He winced, having the distinct feeling she’d dug her claws into the exact same places as last night on purpose. “Hello, Catra. Would you like some too?”

He ripped off some turkey for her and passed it up. The three of them split the rest of the sandwich that way. When there was nothing left, Catra wrapped her tail around the back of his neck.

“Oh, are we friends now? We share one meal and all is forgiven? Little rushed, if you ask me. Hey, hold on. I’ve got it.” He pulled his phone back out and went into selfie mode. He looked over at Catra on his shoulder and snapped the picture. The result was pretty funny. The ridiculous kitty had her fangs out and it looked like a sneaky little smirk. He sent it to Glimmer.

Bow: _Look who came by to visit!_

She replied almost instantly.

Glimmer: _OMG, I’m so sorry!!! Bad kitty!!!!_

Glimmer: _I’m out running errands, but I’ll come get her in a bit_

Bow: _No rush! I think we’re besties now._

Glimmer: _I see that!_ 💖 _You two are adorable!_

Bow: _You’re adorable._

He deleted that last one without sending it because he was a coward, but the heart sparkly heart emoji was probably a good sign, right? He stared at it for a while and felt warm and happy.

OK, that’s it! He needed to figure out how to make this happen. He smacked the table hard enough that Catra leaped off his shoulder.

“Bestie Squad meeting!” The name needed a little refining, but they could do that later. He grabbed the nearest scrap of paper, which was the back of some car renewal thing he’d already done online, and a pen. “OK, team! Clearly, there are forces at work here beyond our imagination and the universe is trying to tell us that the four of us belong together. We just need a plan.”

He needed to approach this like it was one of his tinkering projects. At the top of the paper, he wrote:

**Main Goal:**

Marry Glimmer and live happily ever after

Adora lay her head on his lap and gave him a side-eyed look.

“Maybe that’s more of a stretch goal. Probably the main goal should be like… become Glimmer’s boyfriend? But we’re being aspirational here. We’re… manifesting or… visualizing… vision board? I don’t know what any of that means. Anyway, secondary goals.”

**Secondary Goals:**

~~Meet Glimmer~~

“See, we’ve already done that one so I can cross it off!”

Find out if Glimmer likes you

Kiss Glimmer

Sleepovers

Catra jumped up on the table and sat directly on the list, fixing him with her mismatched glare.

“What?” he asked. She adjusted her haunches and flicked her tail with a look that said he knew exactly what. He flushed. “I didn’t mean sleepovers like that I meant… ok, fine, maybe I meant it like that but it doesn’t have to be on the first date or anything just, you know, eventually, if she… ugh, fine. We’ll put a question mark after it, OK?”

This seemed to satisfy Catra who launched back up onto his shoulder. It still hurt when she dug her claws in, but at least this time he was expecting it. She looked down at his list for a minute and then back up at him with a face that said, _You call that a plan?_

“We’re still brainstorming! Let’s see, to achieve these goals I could… be sexy? Or, uh, say something all suave and charming… if I knew how to do that, I guess.”

While he thought, he doodled a little Bow face and a little Glimmer face and surrounded them with hearts. Then he drew a little Adora and Catra right next to them. By the time he was drawing the four of them all snuggled up together, he realized it was hopeless and he was definitely going to die alone.

  
Adorable fan art of Bow's list by [Miki](https://billyboymiki.tumblr.com/post/632263409935761408/i-couldnt-pass-up-my-chance-at-drawing-some)

He sighed and crumpled up the paper. He tried to toss it into the garbage can but missed entirely because he couldn’t even do that right. Catra leaped after the paper and started happily batting it across the kitchen floor. He lay his head down on the table and Adora gave him a sympathetic lick on the elbow.

Then the pets needed a bathroom break, which meant walking Adora on her leash and trusting that Catra wouldn’t wander too far from her girlfriend, a plan that worked out surprisingly well. He let them romp around together in the grass behind the building while he tried to figure out how you’re supposed to start dating someone you hadn’t already known your whole life.

He’d just brought everyone back in and was wiping off Adora’s muddy paws when Glimmer appeared in his doorway.

“Hey!” She was leaning casually against the door-frame and, uh, it was definitely a sexy person thing. His heart did a somersault. How was she somehow even cuter than he’d remembered? “Sorry about Catra. She’s my problematic fav.”

“Oh, she was not a fine. I mean, it was fine, she was not a trouble. Problem?” He stood upright, his face on fire.

He was supposed to have had a plan for the next time he saw her, some kind of plan that did not involve him making a complete fool of himself. But now here she was, and he was even less coherent than he’d been last night. She was wearing a black leather jacket that matched her boots over a short sparkly purple skirt and he’d meant it last night when he’d said she’d looked great in her pajamas, but this was… wow.

“You look really good.”

“Thanks! I’m actually wearing real clothes today. And I finally got out to get my hair fixed.” She did a sexy hair flip and her glittery lip gloss glinted. Whoa. He was definitely staring and should probably close his mouth, but he had completely forgotten how. She grinned and gestured behind him. “Uh, Adora just escaped, FYI.”

“Damn it, Adora! Come back here!” He chased the trail of muddy paw prints, secretly grateful for the excuse to get himself together. She emerged from the bedroom triumphantly holding her plush horsey.

“Ugh, buddy, no one said Swift Wind!” He finally caught her in the kitchen and got the last of the mud off. Then he tossed the towel to the ground and used his foot to get up the paw prints all over the floor.

Adora didn’t even look repentant about the mess she’d made as she bounded over to Glimmer. She dropped Swift Wind at her feet, tail wagging so hard it shook her entire body. Then she tried to bow, offer Glimmer her paw and jump up on her all at the same time and just ended up falling over.

“You are a lovable goof, aren’t you?” Glimmer laughed as she leaned down to pet Adora. Bow tried to pretend he was really involved with cleaning the floor and not watching the two of them with his heart ready to burst out of his chest. “Anyway, sorry I wasn’t here sooner. I also went grocery shopping, finally.”

  
Adorable fan art by [caramelaire](https://caramelaire.tumblr.com/post/631651436850249728/sooo-i-made-a-fanart-of-tippenfunkaports-au)

“Wow. You were busy today.”

“Yeah, well, there’s this cute guy I’m crushing on pretty hard and I’m trying to impress him by at least giving off the illusion of having my life together. Hey, there’s my little nightmare beast!” Catra streaked by and Glimmer disappeared from view.

Wait. So she was already interested in somebody else? Goddamn it. He could throw up right now. What an idiot. It was his own fault for getting his hopes up. It’s not like he really knew her that well or had any claim to her or anything, but he’d thought they’d had this, I don't know, connection? But he was just deluding himself.

She was talking to him from the other room and he should go join her, but he’d kind of short-circuited and couldn’t do anything but stand in the middle of the kitchen feeling heartbroken.

“Anyway, I was thinking,” she was saying, “after I get a chance to clean my apartment, I could return the favor and have you over for dinner! Though I’m warning you, I literally only know how to make one thing that’s any—Hey, what do you have there? Catra, no, don’t eat… Ugh, give me that!” Glimmer reappeared in the kitchen doorway, a crumbled paper in her hand. “Hey, Bow? I’m sorry. Catra had this. It looks like it might be something important. It’s from the DMV and on the back there’s… um…”

He didn’t want to look at her, especially not now when his feelings were written all over his face, but he glanced over and realized with horror exactly what the crumpled paper she was holding was. Oh, no! The longer she looked at it, the more her brows seemed to scrunch together and the more Bow felt like maybe he should just crawl under the table and die.

“What is this?” She looked up at him and flipped the paper around. His own ridiculous list and doodles stared back at him. He exhaled.

“That is, uh… See, Adora, Catra and I felt like maybe the four of us were meant to… Actually, Adora was the one who had this vision of a perfect future where… like in an alternate universe we were all…” Yeah, there was no way that didn’t sound completely crazy. He rubbed at the back of his neck and hoped his face didn’t look nearly as red as it felt. “Sorry. I didn’t know you were interested in someone else and I thought…”

Glimmer started walking across the kitchen to him and he swallowed because how was he supposed to read that expression on her face? Like she was easily a foot shorter than him, but was also kind of terrifying? His heart was pounding out of his chest as she grabbed the pen off the table and came over to where he was standing like he’d frozen solid. She smoothed the paper out on the counter in front of him. She clicked the pen tip out and looked over at him. Once she was sure he was watching, she drew a line through...

~~Find out if Glimmer likes you~~

“So… _you_ are the person I have a crush on. Got it?” She stared at him for a minute with that unreadable expression, and then the side of her mouth tilted up into a smirk.

“Oh? Oh!” It took a full minute for the words to sink in. Once it did he was sort of terrified to breathe in case he somehow messed this up. “Well… that’s good.”

Glimmer crooked a finger at him and gestured towards the list again. He leaned down to look at what she was pointing at. She very deliberately drew a line through...

~~Kiss Glimmer~~

Wait. So should he… He debated for a panicked second whether that meant he was supposed to kiss her before she snaked her arm around the back of his neck and pulled his face down to hers. Then rational thought was completely impossible because there was nothing on his brain but how perfectly right it felt to have her lips against his. He wrapped his arms around her back and leaned down into the kiss. Her lip gloss was so sweet she sort of tasted like sparkles.

He was just thinking how this was way too good to only be a first kiss but before he could fully form the thought, she’d pulled away. He made a little sound of complaint, but she grinned at him and put a finger on his lips. She turned to the list again and completely scribbled out the question mark after “Sleepovers.”

Oh! OK, then. Wow, yeah, that look she was giving him made him suspect that might happen sooner rather than later. Hey, no complaints here! This had all worked itself out way easier than he’d thought it was going to! He exhaled into a laugh, so completely relieved that he didn’t have to be the one making the first move on any of this that he was downright giddy.

But now that they were both on the same page… He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up onto the kitchen counter. She squeaked and then grabbed at his shirt, pulling him into another, deeper kiss. He ran his fingers through her hair and felt her sigh against his mouth as his tongue found hers.

This part, he was great at.

  
Bow's list after Glimmer's "edits" also by [Miki](https://billyboymiki.tumblr.com/post/632263409935761408/i-couldnt-pass-up-my-chance-at-drawing-some)

* * *

Glimmer fell asleep fifteen minutes into the movie, but Bow loved the way she was cuddled up against his side, so he didn’t mind. They’d only put it on for Adora, anyway. She was the only one still watching the screen with rapt attention. Every now and then she’d look over at Catra cuddled up next to her as if to say, _A dog that plays basketball, can you imagine?_

Either Catra could imagine or didn’t care because she was asleep, purring softly. She had mellowed a lot over the last few months, though she still liked to give him hell at every opportunity. He ran his fingers absentmindedly over Glimmer’s back and realized she was wearing his shirt, the one with the holes in the shoulder from that first day they’d met.

He smiled. And look at them now! Forces beyond our imagination indeed.

All their stuff—Glimmer and Catra had moved in with them as soon as her lease was up—was in boxes stacked around the room. Tomorrow they’d head out on one more Best Friend Squad adventure, though Catra and Adora wouldn’t enjoy the long ride in the moving van. But he was pretty sure they’d forgive them once they saw how much room they’d have at the new house with a whole proper backyard. They could all romp around in the green grass and it would be like a whole new world.

The movie was over and Adora lost interest now that there were no golden hero dogs to watch. She jumped down off the couch, waking Glimmer and Catra. Glimmer stretched and smiled up at him. He leaned down to kiss her forehead.

“You excited about tomorrow?” Her voice sounded all cute and groggy. God, he loved her so much.

“Obviously!” He was probably a little too enthusiastic for this hour of night, but he was really excited for them to start this next chapter of their lives together. She linked her fingers through his, her engagement ring brushing against his knuckle.

Adora threw a look back at Catra as she started for her dog bed and Catra launched off the couch after her as if to say, _Of course I’m going with you, dummy._

Glimmer sat up and yawned. “We should probably go to bed too. Tomorrow’s going to be kind of crazy. Maybe we’ll be lucky and it will all go smoothly.”

“Nah, we don’t need luck. We’re the Best Friend Squad.” He held out his fist, and she bumped it. “Lets do this. Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: When I was a kid my dog (male) was totally in love with the cat down the street (also male) and they were always escaping to go visit each other and pine and whimper at each other and we were like, bros, I'm sorry but your love is not meant to be so please knock if off or one of you is going to get hit by a car. My dog was as tall as an adult male human when he stood on his back feet and this cat was the size of a toaster so they were quite the pair.


	3. Catra's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Everything is stressful right now so I wrote you this as a distraction! It has no plot! It barely makes sense! I am American and I am TIRED and this is all I have for you. 
> 
> <3 Tippen
> 
> PS: I can't BELIEVE you people keep guilt tripping me into writing more of this!  
> PPS: If you haven't looked at this since I first posted it, there's now fanart embedded in the first two chapters that nice people made!

Catra would kill you if you told anyone this, but she thought winning would be different. 

Less upside down, anyway. 

How had it all gone wrong?

There she was, ruling the world, just like she always planned. There was plenty of tuna, a human servant with a nice soft lap, sun beams to nap in, three rooms full of familiar smells and comfy chairs she'd scratched into submission. Paradise! 

Then she got herself a big buff girlfriend (And so what if Adora was a dog? Nobody's perfect!) and she made Adora’s human, High Up, give them his place. It had a better view of the woods so they could laugh at Kyle collecting nuts while the humans were at work or doing whatever it is humans do when they’re not doing important things like giving belly rubs and cleaning the litter box. A total upgrade!

And, of course, Lap came with her because _somebody_ needed to work the can opener but then High Up stayed too. And, fine, he wasn’t so bad, mostly because his shoulder was a lot higher than Lap’s was and Catra like being high up. Plus, he gave her a lot more people food, so he wasn’t completely useless. Adora liked him anyway.

And it was nice for Lap to have someone of her own kind to play with. You know how humans get when they’re all alone. Weird. Late with dinner. Talking to you like you’re some gooey baby and not a fearsome killer. It’s pathetic! It’s better to have two, let them keep each other occupied, give you some peace. 

But then this whole business with the looooong car ride? She'd very distinctly told them she would not handle this indignity the entire way, and they’d had the audacity to leave her in that carrier as if she wasn't the one running this place. Stupid humans! And now they were apparently staying in this new place that smelled weird and was too big and too empty where the moon was too bright and there were too many stars and there wasn't enough furniture to hide under and the spiders tasted different and she hadn't worked out where the good sunbeams fell yet. It was like they'd specifically set it up to torture her, the way there were boxes everywhere, but they all had STUFF in them so you couldn't even wedge yourself into one for a moment's peace. 

A nightmare! 

All she wanted was to grab Adora and go back home together. Just the two of them, the way things were supposed to be. Except she couldn’t even find her. 

And now she was upside down. 

"Catra, you ridiculous animal! If you would stop trying to climb the window treatments, you wouldn't keep ending up in this position!" Lap reached up and grabbed Catra around the middle and tried to detach her back paws, but her claws were in there good. Obviously, or she would have just gotten herself down! She batted at Lap’s head fur casually, as if maybe she meant to be hanging upside down from her back claws as far as anyone knew. 

“You know, Glimmer, I think that old picnic table is going to work out great. Once I sanded it, it looked brand new.” 

Great, here comes High Up. Catra swore it, if he made one cat pun, she was going to show him why sensible animals never exposed their tummy. 

"Hey, Bow? Can you come in here? Catra’s stuck in the curtain again and she got herself up so far up this time I can't reach to get her down."

High Up laughed. "Silly kitty. Give me one second to wash the paint off, I'll be right there."

Help? From High Up? Ugh. Catra was glad Adora wasn’t here to see this. She could hear him in the kitchen, meowing at Laps about something or other in people talk, all the while running the sink without even offering to let her bat at the water. Rude!

“I think I’m going to grab some different paint when I go to return the truck. I primed the table, but I don’t think I like the color. It’s too… green. It’s creeping me out.” 

“Yeah? Let me see.” Laps shifted how she was holding Catra so she could look out the window behind her. Catra rolled her eyes. Humans were always going on about “colors” like everything around here wasn’t gray, anyway. “Oh, OK, yeah, that lime green? I hate that on, like, a deep personal level. Yechk. That color definitely wronged me in a past life.”

“Right?” High Up was there, and she swiped at him with her front claws just on principle, but he dodged. Damn it! He was getting better at that. 

"Come on, Catra, he's trying to rescue you and you're attacking him? That's low even for you!" Lap gave her a stern look, but she only grinned in return. 

_Aw. You know nothing's too low for me._

High Up freed her back feet from the curtain and dropped her unceremoniously on the ground. She did not dignify either of them with so much as a glance back as she leaped onto the top of the kitchen counter. Lap reached into a box and unwrapped one of those weird tall water dishes the humans used. If you hit them with your paw just right, they made a very satisfying smashing sound, but then they had to take out the vacuum and... Catra’s tail floofed up just thinking about it. 

"I thought you were going to trim her nails so this didn’t keep happening." Lap unwrapped another dish like Catra wasn’t right over here ignoring entirely her, a clear sign she wanted scritches!

"I tried. She bites!" High Up held up his arm, covered in little heart bandages. Catra flicked her tail with satisfaction. Served him right.

"Oh no, bad kitty!" Lap scowled at her. Scowled! At her! Like she wasn't here first! She was definitely going to barf on her pillow later. As soon as she figured out which room it was even in. 

"It's OK. I think she's still a little freaked out by the move.” High Up came over and gave Catra a little scritch on the head. “Right Catra? For you, this is all one big CATastrophe. But your new FURever home has a lot of PAWsibilities, no kitten.” Cat puns! Murder! She would end him, she would… oh, yeah, that spot right behind the ear purrrrrr. Ugh, fine, she’d let him live. This time. “At least Adora's enjoying herself.”

"Still. I feel bad she hurt you. Maybe I can make it feel better." Lap leaned over and kissed between the bandages on High Up's arm and then he leaned over and... ewww. Catra turned away, so she didn't have to watch the disgusting things going on behind her. 

Humans! Why couldn't they just use their tongues for normal things like cleaning their fur and drinking out of the toilet? Blegh! She should take them to get fixed one of these days. The last thing she and Adora needed was more humans around here to deal with. 

She turned to commiserate with Adora but she wasn't there. A flash of fur outside the kitchen window reminded her why she'd gotten caught in the curtain in the first place. Adora was romping around outside, rolling around in the grass and running in circles, trying to catch the poof of hair on her tail. That dummy. 

_Hey, Adora!_

_Catra! It's so great out here! Wooo!_ Adora waved her tail, her tongue draped happily out of the side of her mouth. _There are so many new smells and sticks to chew and you can just run all around inside the wood wall and you don't even have to wear a leash or anything! Oh, and, hey if you go over by the gate part you can see the sidewalk and—Hey! Hey, kid! Get away from my house!_

Adora was barking like mad now, and Catra rolled her eyes. That dog always had to play the hero. There was no point in trying to talk to humans anyway. You could yowl something so clear a newborn kitten would understand, and they would have no idea what you were saying. Adora was always going on about how they should call their humans "Glimmer" and "Bow" like they did each other, but what was the point when they didn't even come when you called them?

 _Catra! I did it! I saved the whole universe again! I was like, yeah, you keep riding those bikes right out of here, kids—Pew! Pew!—and they were like whoosh right out of— Oooo. Hey, that looks delicious._ Adora darted off after something Catra couldn’t see. She adjusted her haunches and pressed her face against the screen, trying to follow the canine blur around the yard.

 _Adora! Remember what High Up keeps saying! Not everything is food!_ She shook her head. The love of her life too often thought with her stomach. More brawn than brain. 

At least she was hot.

 _But some things are food, and how will I know unless I try everything?_ Adora was chasing something invisible around the grass, snapping at nothing. The humans were too busy pretending each other's faces were their water dish to notice. It was up to Catra to come up with a reasonable plan, as usual. Owner of the only brain-cell in the entire squad! She ran over to the door. 

_Hey! Let me out! Stop trying to make kittens and open this door at once!_

"Aw, kitty, are you jealous?" Lap finally untangled herself from High Up. She scooped Catra up and tickled her belly. "You're still my little baby, don't worry!"

 _Woman, unhand me this minute or I will shred you to ribbons._ She almost did it too, but then she remembered that Adora was in Moral Peril and she was her Only Hope. She jumped out of Lap’s arms and scratched at the door.

"Oh no, you're not scratching up this door like you did the one at the apartment. You cost me my deposit, you little nightmare. Where are those clippers?" 

Aah, no! Betrayal! She had to get out of here.

She saw her chance. High Up was bringing another stack of boxes in and in the half a second it took him to turn around and close the door with his back paw, she flew out the opening into the wider universe. 

_Catra!_ Adora ran up to her, tail wagging like crazy. _Are you supposed to be out here? Won’t the humans be mad?_

 _That's a problem for future Catra and Adora. Now, what’s so—Is that a mouse?!_ She arched her back and leaped behind Adora.

 _Catra! That’s just a chipmunk._ Adora was laughing. I can’t believe you still fall for that. Ugh, was she ever going to let that mouse thing go? It was one time! _Come on, let me show you around. This place is great, there's—Wait._ Something buzzed between them and Adora focused on it. _Catra? You see that?_

 _I don’t see anything. Are you sure you don’t have brain damage?_ Catra had to admit that Adora did run into a lot of walls, but she’d always assumed all that fur on Adora’s head kind of cushioned it. But Adora wasn’t listening.

 _One time, Bow dropped this thing he was eating that was sooo good. It was like cheese but poofy? Well, I think I just found a new kind that FLIES!_ And before Catra could say anything else, Adora took off after the flying cheese poof at full speed. 

_Adora, slow down! Adora, tree! Tree!_

Crash. Catra didn't know why she bothered, really. She trotted over to where Adora was lying upside down on the grass under the tree, looking dazed. 

_Hey, Adora? Adora!_

_Catra? What happened?_

_You ran into a tree._

_Wait. Where is it? Where'd it go? Ther- There was a delicious buzzing snack thing. It was right here. I tried to bite it, but it got really sharp. Oh! Wait, I think I’m sitting on—_ Adora rolled over then jumped up, yelping. _Catra, run! The food is attacking!_

The fur on Catra’s back stood, and she hissed, tearing up the nearest tree. Meanwhile, Adora ran in circles around the yard, howling. The humans came a minute later, High Up going on about something called a bee. 

I’ll be right back! Adora barked. The next thing Catra knew, Adora was gone. 

Suddenly something hit her head hard, and she looked up to see… Seriously, Kyle? Kyle twitched his fluffy tail, another nut between his little idiot paws. Oh, she was going to make him pay for that.

She lunged, her claws catching onto Kyle's branch for just a second before she slipped and slammed into the branch underneath. She tried to get a grip but there was a snap and she hit the grass below with a thud. Above her Kyle— no, two... three Kyles? How many Kyles were there in this horrible place?—laughed at her. Laughed! At her! 

She’d show them! She’d show them all! She'd get Adora. Adora would protect her. 

She ran over to the big doors that lead back into the house. She pressed her paws against the screen and pulled herself onto her back paws. From out here, the house looked like a mishmash of random boxes and half unpacked things everywhere. 

_Adora?_ Catra mewed, but there was no reply. But there, on the floor, by the big lamp from the living room! A flash of fur and then—

Aaaaaah! Catra didn't know being a lamp was contagious! And yet there was her friend Adora, all big with this white lampshade around her head. What had they done to her? Adora over and she was trying to say something, but all Catra could do was back away in horror. 

They'd taken her. They'd taken Adora and turned her into some kind of… giant cone monster Bee-Ra thing, and now she was all alone. How dare they take best friends and turn them into giant lamp monsters who run off with people clearly inferior to you? 

There was a click that meant High Up was opening the front door to get another box. Catra could go in, she could follow and be with Adora and it would just be the two of them at the end of the world like it was supposed to be, but she couldn’t move. 

Just like that, everything had changed. 

She was alone. All alone in without her best friend. Weird new smells surrounded her, reminding her she was in unfamiliar territory. 

What was that? She spun around. Something in the distance rumbled, like a giant angry electric can opener seeking revenge. 

Something was watching her from over on the picnic table with this real superior look, like it thought it was the lord of this whole terrible zone full of fights. It had an arm like a cannon that aimed right towards her like it was yelling, GET OUT. She ducked under a nearby bush, trapped with nothing but the creepy shadows weaved across the dirt. 

What was that? It slithered by her paws, and she arced, jumping back. The thing slithered towards her, lashing its tongue _._ The snake moved towards at her and she darted around it, claws out. She hissed, and it whipped its tail like it was saying, _Whip!_

It dove between her legs, and that was the exact moment when she decided she'd had it. Her best friend had abandoned her and left her out here to die. Everything had attacked her. And now this snake thought it could mess with her? She rounded on it. 

_So, here's the thing. I've done this. The whole threatening people bit. The intimidation? I've been there. And I just don't care anymore. Some people have a bad day._ She pounced, trapping the snake between her paws. _I've had a bad life. If I want something, it's taken from me._ It wriggled in her grasp, but she bit down on its tail. _If I win a fight, I lose the war. Threats only work on someone who has something to lose. But me? I've already lost it all._

Then she picked up the snake by its tail and dragged it, wriggling and flailing, over to the table. She’d leave it as a warning to anything else that tried to… but then she saw it again. Arm Cannon looked right at her with a look that said, _How dare you?_ But she was the lord of this place now. 

She lunged, claws clasping around the cannon, biting. _Ha! Looks like you're ready to listen._ Then it fired, and tried to rocket out of her grasp, but she held on, her teeth dug into its robotic armor, while it sprayed her all over with something sticky and alien. 

She was doing it! She was winning! She had it all under control.

And then it slipped out of her grasp and whacked her off the table. 

No! This was it. It was like she fell in slow motion. She was going to die like this, with no one in the entire universe who cared about her. 

But just as she hit the ground, she saw her, the sun behind her making it look like she was glowing with some kind of magical light. Adora looked huge, the cone thing like a halo around her face. She lunged for the cannon and squeezed it between her powerful jaws until it stopped its terrible reign of the backyard, its once powerful spray just a harmless drip. 

_You miscalculated._ Adora growled and then she was by her side and all Catra could manage was a weak _Hey Adora_ and Adora licked her even though she was still covered with all the gross smelly stuff and it was like their love had saved the universe.

* * *

“You should have seen it, Aunt Casta. The pictures do not do justice to the sheer amount of chaos they caused. First Adora got stung by a bee she was trying to eat for some reason so we took her in to deal with that and then I guess Catra got out because one minute Catra was on the counter and then, not even ten minutes later, I come back downstairs with the clippers to see Adora come crashing through the screen door and there’s Catra, primed bright lime green, and Adora’s battling the paint sprayer, because I guess she thought she needed to save the cat? And there’s like this poor half dead garter snake on the table and the squirrels all worked up because there’s a branch off the tree. Then Catra was being a baby about the bath as usual and we had to wrap her up in a towel and rock her to get her to calm down and then they chased each other around the house like maniacs for a while to get dry and it was a whole big thing. But they’re perfectly happy now.” 

Lap’s voice drifted in from the kitchen where she was still unpacking and talking into her little rectangle human toy thing. Catra had to admit, it was kind of cute to watch them play. Lap’d already said no kitties allowed in the backyard, but there was no way they weren’t sneaking back out tomorrow after High Up had finished with the stinky prime stuff to mess with the Kyles, show them who’s boss. The thought made her purr.

 _See, dummy. I knew all along this place was going to be great for us._ Catra stretched, yawning, perfectly happy. Adora didn’t bother to reply, but her tail thumped on the floor. Catra snuggled a little closer into her furry belly. 

_You know, Adora, I don’t know about you, but I am having a blast._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and tips both greatly appreciated! http://ko-fi.com/tippenfunkaport


	4. Adora's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a birthday present* for my friend [queenglimmahs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenglimmahs/pseuds/queenglimmahs)**. Ever since I started this silly AU she has had a lot of feelings about Dog!Adora and Glimmer and Bow's kids so this is for her. 
> 
> *an hour late because writing is an imprecise science  
> **who apparently just changed her username today which confused the heck out of me just now!

Ah, there was just something about the winter morning air whipping through your fur, wasn't there? A nice brisk jog to start out the day, just enough to work up a good floppy tongued pant! The jingle of your collar tags and the only— 

What was that? Was that a CHIPMUNK? On HER block? Adora skidded to a stop, a growl building in her throat.

"Come on, Adora. We can't keep stopping. I want to get back before everybody else is awake."

That was her human, Bow, from the other side of the leash. At least, Catra called Bow and Glimmer their humans. Adora thought of them and more like litter mates. But he was right, this wasn't their normal morning jog anymore. She let the chipmunk off with a stern glare.

They were nearly home when she smelled it. Something unfamiliar. She froze, scenting the air.

"Adora, can we please—" Bow began, but another human started barking nearby, pulling his attention.

"Morning, Bow!"

"Oh, hey! Good morning, Mrs. Spinny! How are you?"

Adora’s nose instantly recognized their neighbor, who always smelled like a nice summer breeze. She didn't bother to turn around, still trying to make sense of that unfamiliar scent. Not horse, definitely not cat, but maybe some new weird kind of dog?

"Oh, we're fine, same as always. But how are you two? Hanging in there?"

“We’re good.” Bow made one of those noises the humans did when they thought something was funny, like a tail wag they made with their mouths. Catra called it laughing. “Tired, but good.”

Mrs. Spinny laughed too. "I'll bet! Well, you give our love to Glimmer and let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Once things are a little more settled, maybe Netty and I can bring over dinner, come and meet the baby."

"That sounds great! The first two days were… chaotic, but I think we're sort of getting the hang of it! Maybe. Or… not really."

There was another dog on the other side of the street, and Adora barked over to it. _Hey! Do you know what that weird smell is? Because my brain is is saying it's dangerous but it smells like dog so how could a dog—_

"Shh, Adora, that doggie is working. She can't talk to you right now." Bow reached down and scratched Adora’s head. Across the street, the other dog barely glanced her way, which seemed rude until she noticed the harness.

Oh! That wasn't just some regular dog. That was a hero dog! Adora watched the other dog guide their person down the street and around the corner. She couldn't help but make the tiniest little whimper once they were out of sight.

"Aw, does she want to go play?" Mrs. Spinny stroked her back. Adora gave her a half-hearted tail wag, still watching the spot where the hero dog had disappeared around the corner. 

"Probably. That could have been her, actually. But things didn't quite work out that way." Bow scrunched her ears affectionately. "My little service dog drop out. But, if she hadn't flunked out, I never would have seen her again and I would have missed her a whole lot, so maybe she just had a different destiny."

Bow was saying goodbye to Mrs. Spinny and tugging her back along the path to their house. She followed, but her mind was still back on the hero dog. It was all she'd ever wanted for as long as she was old enough to want anything. Or at least she'd thought she did. But when they took her to meet her new human, she missed Bow so much and that she couldn't remember her training.

Not a good fit, they’d said, but she spoke enough human to know what it meant. All that training had been for nothing. Her best wasn't good enough.

And, at first, she hadn't minded so much. Now that they didn't have to bother with training anymore, they had more time for morning runs and fetch at the dog park. And she still had plenty of hero-ing to do. Every morning when it was just the two of them, she took Bow out for a run to make sure he got his exercise and played fetched with him so he wouldn’t get bored. She guarded the apartment when Bow went to work, barked at people who knocked on the door and cleaned up any bits of food on the floor. And now that they had the big house, she kept the chipmunks in line and made sure nobody walking by even THOUGHT about coming close to the place.

And, she didn’t like to brag but, when Bow and Glimmer had had that fancy party at the house with all the flowers and dresses and stuff, she'd been the only dog they trusted to guard those little tiny collars they wore on their fingers! She'd carried them on a little lacy dog bed they'd tied to her back all the way down the long aisle while all the people watched, her head and tail held high. There was a picture of it on the mantel.

It had been the proudest moment of her entire life.

But sometimes she wondered. If one day she wasn’t a hero dog anymore… then what was she?

What did she even want, if not that?

She’d barely noticed they’d arrived back home until Bow unhooked her collar. Usually after a run they goofed around for a little while, maybe lay on the floor and wrestled. But this time Bow wiped off her paws, hung up her leash and was already halfway upstairs before she realized she was standing in the foyer alone.

Where did he..?

Oh, of course! The puppy! How could she forget? She galloped up the stairs. Someone was moving around in the room where Bow and Glimmer slept, so she nosed open the door.

"There are my girls." Bow leaned down and kissed something on the bed.

"Wha— Oh! Hey. Sorry." Adora could hear Glimmer from somewhere in the pile of blankets on the bed. She sounded all scratchy, as if she'd been barking too much, like she always did in the morning. "She woke up, and I was feeding her and I guess I just completely passed out again."

"It's OK, I've got her. You sleep." Bow hung up his jacket, and Adora tried to figure out where the puppy was. It wasn't in the little crate they had for it by the bed.

"No, you should. You were with her for hours last night too."

"I'll sleep later when my dads get here. My body didn't go through what yours did this week. Get some rest." Bow was switching his shirt to one of the soft ones he always wore when he was taking care of the puppy.

"Alright…" The mound of blankets stirred. "You're the best, you know that? I love you."

Bow smiled in the direction of the bed. "I love you, too."

Ah, OK, so the puppy was on the bed next to Glimmer. It made one of those tiny sigh sounds it made sometimes in its sleep. Not that it seemed to sleep very often, as far as she could tell.

Adora leaped up onto the bed. The mound of blankets immediately flipped down, revealing Glimmer, her head fur all disheveled. Sure enough, the puppy was there, wrapped in its little blanket, snuggled up against Glimmer’s side.

Adora had been so worried they'd be upset when they saw there was only one puppy. The poor little thing was so strange looking, tiny wrinkly years, no fur except a little on its head, hardly any snout at all! But if Bow and Glimmer loved their weird little puppy, then so did she. 

Adora nosed at it, trying to find its face. Glimmer reached over and pulled the puppy closer, out of Adora's reach.

"No! Adora, down! Bow, can you--"

"Got it." He'd scooped up the puppy and started for the door.

Glimmer disappeared back under the mound of covers. Before she had the puppy, Adora would stand guard over Glimmer in the mornings, lay right next to her on the big bed so she could make sure nobody bothered her. But now that the puppy was out…

She jumped down off the bed, nosed the door open and followed the sound of Bow's soft barking down the hallway to the puppy's room.

"There we go. That's better. Nice and dry and now we're all dressed for the day. Mommy wants to put you in the cute outfit that Pops and Granda got you, but Daddy has gotten wise to your tricks, so we're not going to put that on until they actually get here. So if you want to spit up all over this one, you go right ahead. You can keep going through five outfits a day if you want, that's fine with me. You do you. It's just a laundry problem, right?"

Was he… talking to the puppy? It's just that Bow usually talked to her when he walked around the house. Adora followed him around the puppy's room and out the door. Maybe he didn't realize she was here. She lay directly in front of the stairs so he couldn't possibly miss her. 

"Shit!" Bow’s foot collided with her back and he stumbled over her, landing hard on the first step.

Adora yelped and jumped to her feet. It hadn’t hurt that much, but Bow didn't even stop and make sure she was alright, like he usually did when he crashed into her. He just sat down on the step, holding the puppy close, panting like they'd been out on a run.

"Whew! Wow. That was almost really really bad. But it’s OK. Everybody's fine. We’re all good. I'm sorry, buddy." Oh, OK. She should have known he hadn't forgotten her. Adora's tail started wagging automatically. "Daddy was very scared just then. He doesn’t usually curse like that. Mommy, on the other hand…"

 _Aw, it's OK, I forgive you! And you don_ _’t have to be scared about me, I’m fine!_ Adora nuzzled her face into Bow’s and licked his cheek, but he got up and started downstairs.

"Adora, you almost killed us just now. What the hell? Lay somewhere else!"

Adora stared after him for a long while before following him down into the kitchen. She couldn’t see the puppy but Bow had pulled its high up crate into the kitchen so it was probably in there. She heeled him as he moved around the kitchen, chattering to the puppy.

“Daddy is actually going to resort to caffeine today. Shocking, I know! What can I say, desperation makes—Oof!” Bow turned, and she didn’t move fast enough. He crashed into her, sloshing the water from his mug all over the counter. He huffed out a long breath and then shook his head. He started mopping up the water, muttering something that sounded a lot like “crazy dog.”

Or maybe he’d just said something like “thirsty dog.” Yeah, that was probably it. Her best buddy was probably just worried because she hadn’t taken a drink after their run like she usually did. She went over and lapped herself up every drop of water in her dish. She looked over at Bow to see if he noticed she’d properly hydrated, but he didn’t seem to even have noticed.

Bow sat down at the kitchen table. He stared at the mug in his paws. Then he started looking around the room.

"Where did—" He got back up and opened the microwave. There was a banana inside. He pulled that banana out, shook his head, and then put the mug in there instead. He turned the microwave on and started the eat the banana. Adora waited patiently at his feet, but he didn't even offer her any. "Whoo, boy. You know what, little buddy, Daddy is not operating on 100% right now. You think maybe you could actually take a real nap this morning instead of one of those long blinks?"

Bow finished his breakfast, tossed out the banana peel and grabbed his mug from microwave. He put a spoonful of something into it— all Adora knew was it didn't look like peanut butter, the only thing worth eating off of spoons— and sat back down next to the puppy. Whatever he was drinking smelled like that stinky coffee stuff Glimmer was always saying there was no barking before.

"Just a few more hours. Then Pops and Granda are coming over to hang out with you." He was talking to the puppy again, doing that thing he did when he talked to it where he made his eyes big and smiled a lot. "You're going to really like them. They are lots of fun! Yeah, they are! They also have WAY more experience with babies than Mommy and Daddy, so maybe they know how to get you to sleep."

The puppy didn’t reply. Adora watched Bow drink his coffee and stare at the wall like it was something really interesting, like a squirrel or a movie with a dog in it, but she didn't see anything there.

After a while, she got worried. Had he forgotten all about the puppy? He hadn't even given it a water dish or a bowl of kibble or anything! She lay her head on Bow’s lap and whimpered. He reached down and pet her without moving his eyes from the fascinating nothing he was looking at.

OK, this was ridiculous. You are doing a terrible job of caring for this puppy! You haven't even taken it for a walk or played fetch with it since it got here! Well, she knew what to do at least! She trotted out of the kitchen.

Let’s see, where was it?

 _Hey, Adora. What are you doing?_ Catra was somewhere above her, probably in the Christmas tree or knocking the cards off the mantle again. Normally she'd convince her to come down and cuddle and stop making trouble, but she was on a mission.

 _Taking care of the puppy!_ Adora saw Catra's tail flick out of the corner of her eye. She was up on the back of the couch, sizing up a leap to the Christmas tree. _Have you seen my squeaky ball?_

_I told you, dummy! It's not a puppy! It's a tiny human. Let Lap and High Up take care of it and when it_ _’s bigger, we can train it to do stuff fo_ _r us like the others do._

Adora ignored Catra. She liked to act all cool like she didn’t care about the puppy and was only annoyed that Glimmer had had a lot less lap space for her in the last few months, but she'd been just as excited about the new member of their family as anyone. But even she just couldn’t seem to understand that Bow and Glimmer meant well, but they obviously didn't know what they were doing and the puppy needed someone to save it.

And that someone was her.

Ah, there it was! She grabbed her ball from under the big chair and gave it an experimental squeak. Yes, perfect. The puppy was going to love it.

She ran back into the kitchen. The puppy was making little squeaky noises from its crate. See? She knew it! Puppies want squeaky balls and fetch!

She dropped the ball into Bow's lap, but it rolled right off onto the floor. She tilted her head. Was he… asleep? Just laying on the table like that?

She got really close to his head and barked. Not too loud, just enough that he jumped a little.

"Wha—" He sat bolt upright and looked automatically over at the puppy. Adora retrieved the ball and dropped it back on his lap. Bow exhaled and scratched behind her ear. "Adora, buddy, please. No fetch. Not right now. I am barely alive. I'm sorry about yelling at you before. I know it wasn't your fault but you don't understand… Of course you don't, you're a dog." He lay his head back down on the table. "Tell you what, you watch the baby for a bit and I'll nap right here."

Yes! Adora's entire body was shaking, her tail was going so fast. Finally! She trotted over to the puppy's crate and stood guard, tall and proud. Now… how was she going to get the puppy out of there so she could—

CRASH! Something in the next room smashed to the ground, a sound that had become very familiar in the last two weeks.

"Damn it, Catra!" Bow dragged himself up from the table. He turned to Adora. "Why can't you keep your girlfriend away from the Christmas tree?"

Like she listens to me either? Adora followed Bow into the living room, and he nearly tripped over her again when he turned back around to grab the puppy. He just picked up the whole crate, puppy and all, and brought it with him into the living room.

"Come on, sweetie. Kitty cat knocked down the Christmas tree again. I know! You wouldn't believe how many times she's done this. Every year, Mommy warns me but, yet again, Daddy has been undone by his own hubris." Bow set the puppy's crate in the space between the big chair and the couch and went over to stand the Christmas tree back up. Catra was sitting on the widow sill grooming herself. Her expression said she had no idea what had happened to the Christmas tree. In fact, she'd only just gotten here! But there was a strand of tinsel wrapped around one ear which ruined the effect. Bow glared at her. "You're not fooling anyone. Stay out of the tree! Actually, you know what? I'm going to go grab my tools, right now, and attach the tree right to the darn wall so you can't keep doing this."

 _Ha!_ _Did you see that? He was so mad. Oh, it's too easy!_ Catra cackled as Bow disappeared down the basement steps.

 _It's not funny, Catra!_ Adora watched the basement door. He hadn't taken the puppy with him. Well, that was fine. She was here to watch it. Not that she could actually see it from here or anything. All she could see was its little paws flailing around above the edge of the crate.

 _What are you doing?_ Catra asked. She'd stopped grooming herself and was watching Adora climb up onto the big chair.

 _I can't see the puppy from down there._ She stood all the way up on the chair, but she couldn't really see it from here either.

 _Stop fooling around and come play with me!_ Catra was batting the balls that had fallen off the Christmas tree around the room. _Let's see how many we can wedge under the radiator before Bow gets back!_

 _Catra! You're not supposed to be messing with the tree stuff! It's my responsibility to make sure you don't go near it, so cut it out!_ She hated to yell at Catra like this, but all this puppy stuff was really stressing her out. Bow and Glimmer were acting weird, the routine was all messed up, no one wanted to play fetch, and still nobody had given this poor puppy any kibble! Catra ignored her and pounced on stuffed moon. _I! Said! Stop! It!_

"Adora! Knock it off!" Bow was back, his toolbox in one hand, some twine in the other. "No barking! Come on! Glimmer's trying to sleep!"

 _But you said… Catra was_ _…_ She could hear Catra laughing from where she'd disappeared under the couch to chew her prize down to fuzz. But Bow wasn't even paying attention, he was already working on the tree, wrapping the trunk in twine and tap tap tapping it into the wall.

The puppy made a tiny sound, like a small howl. Well, if Bow wouldn’t watch it… Adora climbed up onto the arm of the chair and leaned as far over as she could, but she still couldn't see into the puppy's crate. She really needed to get closer, give it a proper sniff. Make sure its nose was the right temperature and its ears weren't flopped inside out or anything.

She reached her paw across the distance, resting it on the side of the puppy's crate. So far, so good. Then she put her other paw on the side and leaned forward until she was right over the crate.

There! That was much better. Now she could finally—but the crate tilted away from her and before she knew it, she was falling, throwing her forelegs out in front of her. She hit the ground hard, her paws stinging. But she didn't have time to worry about that because half a second after she hit the ground, she could only watch as the puppy's crate tipped over, hit the arm of the couch and then clattered to the floor.

Oh, no! Adora jumped to her feet and ran over to sniff the crate, but it was empty. Where had the puppy gone?

Whew! There it was! The puppy must have rolled out of the crate and onto the couch before it hit the ground. It was lying on its belly howling like it usually only did in the middle of the night. The noise was loud and painful, and all Adora knew was she had to make it stop.

Aah, no no no, shhh, puppy! Don't cry! It's OK! Auntie Adora is here! She licked the puppy's face, but that only made it yowl louder. She knew dimly that Bow was shouting something and the Christmas tree had crashed down again, but whatever else was wrong with this puppy, its howls were nice and loud and they were all she could hear.

Then Bow was there, shushing the puppy as he scooped it up and held it close. He was saying something to it, but it was too soft for Adora to hear. The puppy kept wailing, and Bow started bouncing it in his arms. He did that thing again, blowing out big puffs of air like he’d been running.

Poor puppy! Adora needed to get in close enough so she could make sure it was alright. She jumped up onto the couch next to them, but Bow turned the other way and she couldn’t reach. OK, fine, then she’d try something else.

“It’s OK. Daddy’s here.” Bow kept repeating. The puppy had finally gotten quiet again. Bow leaned down and kissed its little puppy forehead before slumping down onto the couch. He stared at the ceiling. “We are having some morning, aren’t we?”

Let’s see, what would the puppy like? Ah! She trotted over with her rubber bone and dropped it on the puppy's face. There, a little chew makes everything better. But the puppy just started yowling again.

Bow’s head whipped back up. He looked at Adora, tossed the bone clear across the room and then made a sound that was kind of like a laugh, but not a good kind of laugh.

"That's it. Out." He grabbed her collar and dragged her to the back door. Before she understood what had happened, she was outside. The door slammed shut. She could still hear the puppy howling from all the way out here.

Bow had never been that mad at her before, not even that time when she'd chewed on his new phone and cracked the screen because she thought it might be some new dog cookie she hadn't tried yet. But he was her best buddy, her litter mate. He couldn’t really be that mad at her, could he?

 _Bow?_ She barked, but the door stayed closed.

She didn't want to be outside right now! How was she going to watch over the puppy from out here! She whimpered and waited for the door to open, but it didn't. She went to the window, but all she could see was Catra looking sympathetic.

_I tried to tell you, dummy._

_Catra! I want to come back in!_

_I know, babe, but High Up's in a big snit right now, and the puppy is still screeching, so it's boring in here._ She yawned. _I'm going to go for a nap, anyway. Go bark at some cars for a while, you'll feel better and High Up can cool down._

_OK._

Catra disappeared and Adora slumped down into the grass. She was just trying to help. But she’d almost hurt the puppy and messed everything up, and now everyone was mad at her. 

Some hero dog. She couldn't even take care of one little puppy. She sucked in a snout of air and blew it out again, watching the grass dance in her exhale. If she wasn't a hero dog, what even was was she?

Wait a minute. That smell! The weird one from before. It was back and stronger now than before.

What WAS that?

She sat up, frozen, her ears tuned to something.

_HELP! Someone! Please!_

She jumped to her feet and ran to the fence. She wasn’t supposed to dig but… She only hesitated for a moment before jabbing her paws down into the dirt, tearing up the grass around the bottom of the fence.

\--

"Adora!"

A familiar voice, but far away. Adora looked up, disoriented. She'd only meant to lie down for a moment, just to rest, but she must have fallen asleep. Everything felt thick and stiff. The bite on her back still hurt pretty bad and her muzzle was all scratched up, but it was worth it. She looked down at the kitten, nuzzled into the soft fur of her belly. It looked up at her with sweet wide eyes and she licked its head, making the fur on the top flop down over its eyes.

 _You OK?_ She asked it. Whatever that thing had been, it had beat her little pal up pretty badly.

 _Am now._ The kitten's little mews were so tiny. Adora nuzzled her nose into its side, memorizing its smell. Her tail thumped against the floor of the old barn where she’d fought that thing. Fought and won.

"Adora? Adora!" Wait. Was that Bow? "Oh, it's all my fault. I was so tired and she was underfoot and driving me crazy and just would not leave the baby alone and I got mad and I put her outside and I shouldn’t… she's never done that before, dug under the fence or run away or… my poor bestie! What if she got hit by a car or—"

"Babe, we'll find her. She's a smart dog… mostly. She knows this area. She won't have wandered far." That was Glimmer. Where were they?

"I know, but dad said they saw a coyote on the way over— wait a minute, was that Catra? Now she's out too?" Bow did not have a tail but, even if he did, it did not sound like it would be wagging right now. "Damn it, Ca--"

"It's OK. I let her out. If anyone can find Adora, it's her. Those two are drawn to each other like a magnet. Go on, Catra. Go find Adora."

 _Catra?_ Adora sat up.

_Adora? Hey, dummy, where are you?_

_Catra!_ Adora tried to get to her feet, but apparently she'd scratched up her paw worse than she realized. _We're in here!_

 _We?_ Catra appeared in the barn's doorway. _Oh. Hello._

 _Hi._ The kitten rose to its feet and went over to Catra. Adora expected her girlfriend to make some sarcastic comment, but she just watched it, transfixed. The kitten rubbed itself against Catra's side. What was most amazing of all was that she let it.

 _You should have seen it!_ Adora was so excited she could barely talk, her tail going a mile a minute. _There was this big thing, like a dog but wild, and it was chasing the kitten but not like playing, like it thought it was food and I was like, Bad dog! That's not food! and it was all, IS FOOD, and then it was going to attack so I was just like, No! You! Don't! and I was all like WHAM and POW and BITE and then I did it, Catra! I scared it away!_

Catra was watching the kitten as it stalked across the barn. It batted at the straws at the bottom of a broom. _That's my Adora. Always got to play the hero._

Adora just smiled, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. The kitten pounced on the bristles, causing the broom to topple over with a loud smack. It leaped into the air and ran, hiding under Adora's front paws.

_Protect me!_

_I've got you. I won't let anything happen to you._ Adora licked the kitten again, tucking it securely under her paw. _I promise._

Catra was watching her and the kitten, her tail tall and still.

 _Babe, you're a mess. We've got to get you to the vet. Let me go get the humans._ Catra started for the door of the barn.

 _Wait. Catra._ She lowered her voice so the kitten wouldn't hear. _We're keeping it, right? There isn_ _’t anyone else._

 _Of course we are._ She'd never seen Catra so serious.

_Do you think the humans will mind?_

Catra smirked.

 _I'd like to see them try to stop us. If they get one, so do we._ The kitten had gotten brave again, stalking an ancient piece of hay. It smacked it, sending it right back into its own face. A second later it was back under Adora's paw, hiding from the evil straw. _But you know that little stinker's going to be a lot of trouble. Someone will have to watch it all the time, keep it in line, show it how the universe works. A real project for the two of us. Is that really what you want?_

Adora looked at the kitten and then back at Catra.

_Yeah. Actually, I think that is exactly what I want._


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bow and Glimmer were sidelined pretty hard in the last two chapters for the pets so I felt like they deserved a chance to be in the spotlight again.

There were approximately a million things Glimmer should be doing right now. Her work inbox was a nightmare beyond imagining. The house was such a disaster even Bow had given up on it. Christmas gifts were still in a pile in the exact corner where they’d dumped them when they’d come home from her mom’s house. 

Oh, and sleep. Yeah, sleep. She should definitely be getting sleep. She was so tired the lights on the Christmas tree were a blurred mess of color. 

But she didn't move. Ari stirred in her lap, doing one of those baby smiles everyone kept telling them was just gas but sure looked like a little smile to her. She offered her index finger and, even in sleep, impossibly tiny fingers immediately wrapped around it. 

She’d definitely had wilder New Year’s Eve's. But not necessarily better ones. 

She heard Bow moving around upstairs, checking first the baby’s room and then coming softly down the steps.

"There you are! What are you doing down here?" From behind the couch, Bow wrapped his arms around her neck, his voice barely above a whisper. Adora lifted her head and gave a single tail wag before sinking sleepily back down into the cuddle pile she and her kitties had formed on the pet bed in the corner. 

"We’re just hangin’ out. Having some girl time.” She leaned back into his embrace. She’d spent so much time bouncing or rocking the baby over the last few weeks, it felt weird to just be sitting still. “She was a little fussy after she ate, so we came down here and watched the tree lights until she was ready to go back to sleep. She likes the way they twinkle.”

“Me too,” Bow said, but Glimmer noticed he was watching her, not the tree. It made something soft and warm bloom in her chest. “Do you want me to take her upstairs for you?”

“Maybe in a minute.” She exhaled, enjoying this little moment when her whole world was all in one room. “I know it’s silly, but I can’t stop looking at her. She's so beautiful!"

"That's because she looks like her Mommy." Bow kissed her cheek. She rolled her eyes at him. 

"Whatever. She looks like herself."

Bow came around and lay down on the couch. He put his head in the half of her lap not occupied by baby, which was kind of comical because he barely fit on the sofa that way, his feet sticking up over the armrest. Ari stretched, kneading her little bootied feet into Bow’s head, and Glimmer laughed as he scrunched his face up. The baby let go of Glimmer’s finger to twirl the little wisps of hair on the back of her head as she settled back into sleep. 

"I just keep thinking..." Oh jeez, now she was crying again. It took basically nothing to get the waterworks going these days, and it was so annoying. Hormones were the literal worst. Luckily, Bow was used to it by now. He just rubbed her hand gently with his thumb until she got herself back under control. "I was thinking about how I always gave my family a hard time for saying stuff like, ‘Oh, they grow up so fast!’ but they do, you know? This first month went by like phew! Nothing. And we're going to blink and one day and this sweet little thing is going to be a whole person who’s embarrassed to be seen with me at the mall or whatever." 

“No way!” Bow looked up at her, his eyes twinkling from the tiny lights on the mantel. “Her friends are going to be like, ‘Wow! Your mom is so cool! She's all badass and punk and funny! I wish mine was that awesome!’ All the other moms are going to develop a complex about it, you'll see!”

Glimmer laughed, jostling the baby. She ran the hand that wasn't trapped under the baby through her husband’s hair. She would have kissed him right now if that was even remotely logistically possible.

"I don't know. My mom and I fought a lot."

“I’m telling you. They're going to think you're the greatest. Now me, on the other hand… It's going to be, ‘Uggh Dad, you're so cheesy and your jokes are so corny! Don't hug me in front of my friends!’”

"No! Never! They'll be more like… they’ll… uh…" She couldn't help laughing when he tilted his head up at her, his face twitching into a grin. "I'm sorry, babe. I love you so much and I wanted to hype you up, but… you’re right. You already have so much embarrassing dad energy. And you are, just, not even remotely cool. Not even like a little bit." 

“See? I'm doomed.” Bow sighed dramatically, which only made her laugh more. “Everywhere we go, people will be like, ‘What is that dork doing with that amazing lady?’”

Glimmer stopped laughing and smiled down at him. God, she loved him so much, now more than ever. She kissed her fingertips and pressed them against his forehead. "Making her very very happy." 

“Well, at least I’m good for something.” Bow snuggled back down into her lap, closing his eyes. 

“You know, I didn’t want this. Marriage. House in the suburbs. Two point five pets or whatever. I mean…” She quickly clarified when his eyes flew back open, his brow creasing. “Until I met you. It was like… Babies in general? Bleh. Having Bow’s babies, though? Hmm, now there’s a concept!”

"I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to react to that." He still looked kind of worried, and she tried to smooth the scrunched up lines on his forehead with her finger. She was getting all choked up again, but that was barely news. 

“I'm just saying that I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without you. And I wouldn't have wanted to. So I'm glad… you're in my life. That's it. Cheesy, I guess, but I'm a hormonal mess so I get to be as cheesy as I want.” She exhaled, looking at the whole brand new person sitting on the other side of her lap. “And that we’re really going to miss you when you go back to work on Monday.”

“I told you, I can take more time off or ask about working from home.” He sat fully upright and turned to face her. “Or I could call my dads over. And you know if we asked your aunt would drop everything to be—” 

“Shush.” She put a finger to his lips, and he kissed it. “I can do it. It’s just going to be… different. I’m allowed to be scared about change without needing you to swoop in and fix it.”

“But I like to swoop in and fix it.” Bow pouted. “You have no idea how much I hate that I’m going to be missing even a moment with you two.”

“You remember how it was when we were first dating? How I’d send you pictures of every cute thing Adora or Catra did during the day?”

Bow grinned at her. “I remember.”

“Well, it’s going to be like that but a billion times worse.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it.” He leaned over and kissed her. Just a peck, sweet and soft, but it was still perfect. “Now I think we really need to go to sleep because little miss is probably going to be back up wanting to eat any minute now and we’ll have to start this entire process over again.”

Glimmer sighed, knowing he was right. “What time even is it?” 

“It is…” Bow flipped around to see the clock in the kitchen. The man had the eyes of a sharpshooter. He laughed suddenly and then head up two hands. 

“Ten o’clock?” Glimmer guessed, though it felt way later than that. 

Bow shook his head and starting folding down fingers, one by one, as he counted in a soft voice. “Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one. Happy New Year, baby!” He reached over and kissed her again, a little longer this time.

“Really?” They hadn’t even considered staying up until midnight this year, they were both so tired. It was kind of funny they’d ended up catching the New Year anyway. For some reason, it made it feel more special than staying up for it on purpose.

“And to my other baby, too.” He leaned down to place a soft kiss on the baby’s forehead. 

“’Ugh, Daaaad, staaaaahp it! You’re so embarrassing!’” Glimmer said as Ari stirred in her sleep, flailing her tiny fists for a second before yawning into a grimace and setting back down into sleep. 

“So it begins.” Bow shook his head in mock offense, and Glimmer laughed again. He held out his hands for the baby and she carefully handed her over before getting up herself. 

“This year’s going to be crazy.” Glimmer said as she followed Bow and baby up the stairs. “Scratch that. The next two decades are going to be crazy.” 

“Twenty years, huh?”

“I was building in extra time for siblings.” 

Bow stopped walking and turned around to look at her. His eyes widened. They sort of hadn’t really talked about any babies beyond this one and maybe it was a bit too soon since they’d only been parents for exactly a month but, whatever.

“You… want to have more?” He watched her.

“With you? Yeah.” She bit her lip and gave him a look. It was nice that she could still make him get all flustered with just that, even this late in their relationship. “Like it said… Bow’s babies. It’s a concept!” 

“Well, uh, I am game whenever you are.” The look on his face was so adorable and sweet she would absolutely have jumped him right then and there if he hadn’t been holding a baby and she hadn’t been exhausted beyond all reason. Instead, she just gave him a friendly pat on the arm. 

“Good. Then let’s do that. But not now because I am going to go pass out.” 

Bow laughed. “Good idea. After all, you haven’t slept all year!”

Glimmer rolled her eyes and didn’t dignify that with a response. Though she couldn’t help but grin when she heard him chuckling at his own joke the whole way down the hallway to the baby’s room. God, she loved that man. 

But just… so much dorky dad energy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That feels like a good place to end it, no? I mean... never say never, but... I think I might be done writing this for real now. 
> 
> Maybe. 
> 
> Probably.


	6. Glimmer's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer goes to visit with her best friends from school, Mermista and Perfuma. (Contains drinking and alcohol)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am helping run a month-long fandom event called SPOP Palentines and you can read all about it and see the other fun works being made on [https://spop-palentines.tumblr.com](https://spop-palentines.tumblr.com/). It’s been my focus the last few weeks (because I’m posting something for almost every day of it) and will be throughout the month. BUT, so I don’t leave everyone who reads my continuing fics hanging this month, I will use some of the prompts to add new chapters where I can. 
> 
> This chapter is for the prompt: Therapists and Friendly Ears

“…and so I come downstairs and he’s managed to set the whole friggin’ terrarium on fire!” Mermista handed Glimmer what was definitely her last chocolate martini if she was going to sober up enough to drive home later. She resisted the urge to text Bow to see how he, Ari and the pets were doing without her. Not because she didn’t think he could handle it, because he definitely could, but because this was her first time away from the baby and as good as it was to get out of the house for some adult conversation with her best buds, she was missing everyone back home like crazy. 

“I’m sorry, but… how?” From the next to her on the sofa, Perfuma was laughing so hard tears were streaming down her face. She was on her third glass of wine and her face was already red and flushed. 

“Because Sea Hawk is a goober and I can’t leave him alone for a minute! Isn’t that right, you maniac?” Mermista grabbed a cracker from the cheese platter they were all snacking from and put it between her teeth. 

Her Scarlet Macaw, Sea Hawk, screamed, “ADVENTURE! ADVENTURE!”

He flew over from where he’d been watching their Girl’s Night from one of the many perches Mermista had for him all over her living room. He landed on the back of the chair and snatched the cracker out of her mouth. Mermista grinned. “So I had to be like, sorry about your lizard, Lonnie. But at least I got out of pet sitting, like, forever.” 

She reached up and scratched Sea Hawk’s head. The parrot cooed around a mouthful of cracker. Mermista took a sip of whatever tropical blue disaster with a sexual name she was drinking. 

Perfuma wiped her eyes. “This just makes me so grateful that the worst Frosta ever does is chew through her enclosure if we’re out too long! Oh! But she’s started doing this thing, it’s so cute. Give me a moment, Scorpia caught it on video, you have to see it!” 

“Wait, did I miss something? Did Scorpia move in?” Glimmer felt like she’d been completely out of the loop since she disappeared into babyland.

“Not officially.” Mermista waggled her eyebrows over her drink. 

“Hush you. We’re taking things slow!” Perfuma said without looking up from scrolling her phone. 

“Yeah, soooo slow.” Mermista turned to Glimmer. “Scorpia sleeps over, like, every night she doesn’t have a security gig. She even helped rearrange stock in the flower shop the other day. They’re already all domestic and shit. It’s disgusting. Last time I was over, I heard her tell Frosta ‘her other mommy’ would be over soon.”

“Wow,” Glimmer said, hiding her grin with the glass. “Things must be getting really serious if she’s ferret official.”

“I truly dislike both of you.” Perfuma said without bothering to look at either of her best friends, and Glimmer and Mermista laughed. This was fun. She’d missed this. They so rarely got to hang out like this anymore. “And intimacy is never disgusting, Mermista. Just because your complicated upbringing has taught you to keep your emotions at a distance—”

“Ughhh, I have notttt had enough alcohol for this.” Mermista took a generous swallow of her drink. “Glimmer, you haven’t been here and there has been no one to save me from Perfuma’s drunken psycho-analysis.” 

“Sorry! I, uh… have baby pictures? If that would work as a distraction?” Glimmer waved her phone helpfully. She’d already shown them some, obviously, but she’d been trying to exercise self-control and had easily a dozen more she’d love to pass around. Give or take a hundred. 

“Yeah, no, that’s NOT going to help because she’s on my case for not, like, settling down or whatever.” Mermista rolled her eyes. Glimmer put her phone back down on her lap, reminding herself it wasn’t personal even though, objectively, Ari was the cutest baby in the entire world and endlessly fascinating. “It’s like when she started hot yoga. Now that she’s in love, she’s trying to get everyone into it. Let me slut around in peace, woman! Aren’t you supposed to be into that hippie free love, shit?”

“You build walls around your emotions—”

“Perfuma’s mad because I only allow myself to respect one man.” Mermista made a kissy noise and Sea Hawk leaned forward and nipped at her lips like he was giving her a kiss. “Who’s the prettiest girl in the world?”

The parrot threw his head back and trilled at the top of his lungs, “Mermistaaaaaaaa!”

“See? He’s the ideal man. We’re soulmates.” 

“You cannot be soulmates with a pyromaniac parrot!”

Glimmer just took a sip and enjoyed the show. She knew better than to get involved. Those two had been bickering like this since they were all teenagers in boarding school, complaining about their parents and bonding over the fact that apparently Rich Bitch was one of those titles that haunted your social life forever no matter what you did so they might as well team up. There’d been a couple of times she thought Mermista and Perfuma might actually get together, but apparently theirs was a friendship based on lovingly bullying each other. 

“You’re just lucky I value your friendship enough to put up with your constant negative energy.” Perfuma’s tone was very sanctimonious, but she grinned and Mermista snort laughed. The line between joking fighting and real fighting was really close with these two but apparently they could tell the difference. 

“Whatever. You love me.” Mermista had to be pouring her own drinks heavy because she was already slurring her words after two. “Unlike Glitter over here who only hangs out with us because we’re the only friends she has left she hasn’t slept with!”

“Excuse me!” Glimmer flushed, but she joined the others with laughing because, well, they weren’t NOT right. “I am someone’s mother. A little respect, please!” 

“Hey! No!” Mermista shouted, snapping her fingers. It took Glimmer a minute to realize she was talking to Sea Hawk who’d flown into the kitchen while they were talking and was apparently trying to turn on the stove with his beak. He looked up at Mermista guiltily. “Don't do that.”

Glimmer laughed. “I suppose I should be grateful that fire is not one of Catra’s many vices.”

“I had to put child safety covers on all the knobs after he almost burned the house down!” Mermista rolled her eyes. Sea Hawk flew to the half wall between the living room and kitchen. He shuffled from foot to foot, his head drooped. He finally peeked at Mermista from under a wing, abashed “Come on, stopppp looking at me like that. Ughhhh, fine. Here!”

She did something on her phone and the gas fireplace in the end of the room lit up. 

“ADVENTURE! ADVENTURE!” Sea Hawk shrieked. He flew to a perch near the fire and stared at the fire, his beak agape.

“This is my life.” Mermista said, shaking her head. But she smiled as she watched Sea Hawk sway back and forth in apparent rapture. 

“Okay, wait, I finally found it!” Perfuma slid closer to show Glimmer her phone. “Watch this. Every time Frosta’s out and someone comes to the door to deliver a package, she does this!” 

On Perfuma’s phone, her snow white ferret, Frosta, was standing on her back feet, her front paws leaning against the screen Glimmer recognized as the front window in Perfuma’s apartment. She was watching something intently on the street below. 

“What is it, Frosta? Is that the Prime guy?” said a voice Glimmer wasn’t familiar with, but she assumed was Scorpia, Perfuma’s girlfriend. Frosta’s little back feet started moving around like she was squaring up. “Oh, yeah, it is him. You HATE that guy, right? What are you going to do, little buddy?”

Without warning, Frosta let out a horrifying screech of pure rage and started attacking the screen with her front paws. It looked like she was unleashing a volley of tiny punches and would have been terrifying if she wasn’t eleven and three inches of snowy adorable fluff. The video shook as Scorpia laughed from behind the camera. “Yeah, that’s it. Punch Prime, little buddy! Punch him!”

“She is so tiny and full of violence. I just love her so much.” Perfuma was still laughing as she took her phone back. She closed the video and Glimmer got a glimpse of her background. A picture of Perfuma and a buff woman with an undercut that Glimmer recognized from Perfuma’s tagged posts as Scorpia.

  
Ferret Frosta by [alysurr](https://alysurr.tumblr.com)

“Scorpia sounds really nice. I’m so happy for you two.” Glimmer offered. 

“I really do like her. A great deal.” Perfuma shrugged and then giggled like she was twelve years old. Then she suddenly turned and gave Glimmer’s arm a drunken slap. “Which is lucky for you, missy, since you stole my man!”

Mermista cackled so hard she snorted some of her drink back out her nose and had to go grab a tissue for clean up. Glimmer groaned. This was not her favorite running gag. 

“I did not steal anybody!” 

“I’m just saying, I put in the time! Every day! Every day exchanging hellos—very flirty hellos—”

“YOU were flirting! Bow was walking to work, politely minding his own business!” Glimmer was laughing, but it was at least half defensive. It didn’t matter that Bow was her husband now, 100% hers without question, and she KNEW he’d never actually been into Perfuma. She still couldn’t help but feel petty and jealous every time this came up. To be fair, Perfuma hadn’t known her and Bow even knew each other back then, but it still felt like a betrayal that her best friend had been actively pursing with her future husband. 

“I’d purposely wait to stock the outdoor displays until I knew he’d be walking by. Always did deliveries to his building personally. A whole year of working on that boy and for what?” Perfuma sighed dramatically, sinking back onto Mermista’s couch. “One date! That’s all I got! Then you swoop in and suddenly Mr. I’m not really interested in a relationship right now is MARRIED.” 

“Jeez, I can’t BELIEVE you fucked up Perfuma’s 300k slow burn flower shop AU with your boy next door, dog and cat meet-cute, Glimmer. Damn.” Mermista was back with a fresh bowl of chips and her drink refilled. “You know Perfuma’s type is anything with MUSCLES. What kind of friend are you?”

“A shitty one, I guess.” Glimmer downed the last bit of her drink mostly to keep her mouth busy so she didn’t say anything stupid. Her friends were just joking and maybe it was the postpartum hormones, but she really didn’t have a sense of humor about this right now. As if summoned by her thoughts, her phone buzzed with a text from Bow and a picture of Ari with a sneaky expression on her face and what looked like a tupperware lid on her head. 

**Bow** : you make this exact face

 **Glimmer** : I do?

 **Bow** : yes and I love it

Glimmer smiled, the feeling of missing home like a sudden ache. 

**Bow** : having fun with the girls?

 **Glimmer** : yeah 

**Glimmer** : we’re giving each other crap as usual

She thought about complaining about the Perfuma thing, but suddenly that seemed completely inconsequential. Besides, there was basically only one way to get Bow really mad, and that was if you hurt someone he cared about. She definitely wasn’t annoyed enough at Perfuma to unleash that on her. 

**Bow** : good!

 **Bow** : we’re fine here! take as much time as you need

 **Glimmer** : OK

 **Glimmer** : I’ll be leaving in a bit anyway

 **Glimmer** : I miss you guys too much

 **Bow** : we miss you too

 **Bow** : I love you

 **Bow** : so much

 **Glimmer** : I love you too

Glimmer sat smiling at her phone for a second, feeling warm and loved until something cold and wet smacked her in the cheek. It took her a moment to realize it was an olive from the tray of snacks in the middle of the table. 

“Ughhh, stop sexting! No boys! This is supposed to be girls’ night!” Mermista threw a second olive at her, but missed this time. 

“I was not… He just send me a picture of the baby!” Glimmer held up the picture.

“Mmmhmm. Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Perfuma deadpanned before collapsing onto Glimmer’s shoulder in hysterics. 

“Wow, you two are WAY drunker than I am.” The bit of buzz she’d had earlier was pretty much gone. She rose to put her empty glass in the kitchen and grab a glass of water. 

“I am not drunk!” Perfuma attempted a very solemn expression and failed miserably. “I am beverage enhanced!” 

“And I’m not drunk. I’m PISSED.” Mermista gestured with her drink and didn’t seem to notice when she sloshed some onto her pant leg. 

“Pfft. You’re always pissed.” Glimmer shot back. 

Perfuma doubled over laughing. “She is! Negative energy!” was all she could get out between gasps. 

Mermista gave Glimmer the finger and for a moment it felt exactly like it had back in school when the three of them would stay up all night and give each other crap about dates and school and everything. 

“Ughhhh.” Mermista groaned, leaning her head off the back of her chair. “I can’t believe you’re married to some guy and you have a baby. Like, what the actual fuck?”

Perfuma sat up, pointing towards Mermista in a vague way, like she wasn’t entirely sure where she was. “Pardon me, but that kind of attitude is reductive and disrespectful, and Glimmer is no less bi than the rest of us because—”

“UGHHH, that’s NOT what I meant.” Mermista slumped even lower in her chair. “It’s like, we’re all old and boring now! It’s like, fur, feathers, whatever, we’re all just sitting around talking about our babies or settling down instead of partying or I don’t knowwww. The us from ten years ago, if they saw us now, what would they say?”

For a long moment, the only sound the steady shush of the gas fireplace. Perfuma chewed a carrot thoughtfully, and Mermista swirled the blue liquid around in her glass, watching it. Glimmer finished her glass of water and stared at the collection of glasses next to the sink.

“Well, I think I know what at least one of us would say,” Perfuma said at last. They both turned to her, waiting. Even drunk, Perfuma usually had something profound to say. “And that’s, ‘I can’t believe I actually referred to a parrot as my fucking soulmate.’”

They all cracked up at that, even Mermista, who actually put down her drink so she could give Perfuma the finger with both hands. “Whatever. I hate you both so much. Yeah. That’s it, actually. Me from ten years ago would be like, I cannot BELIEVE you still hang out with those annoying bitches.”

“We love you too, Misty!” Perfuma said fondly.

“OK, but… for real?” Glimmer tried to stop laughing so she would at least sound serious. “I don’t know about you guys, but, overall? I’m so much happier than I was ten years ago. Like, so much happier.”

“Yeah.” Mermista nodded. “Honestly, me too.”

“It’s like… everything’s easier because we finally know who we are.” Perfuma gestured randomly with a piece of raw broccoli. “And we’re doing what we want instead of what we think we should be doing.”

“Exactly!” Glimmer refilled her water glass and came back around to sit on the couch. “And if that’s boring, or whatever, I think I’m fine with that.” 

“Well, fuck. To being old and boring, then I guess!” Mermista snatched her glass and raised it. “And, like, good friends. Or whatever.”

They all toasted to that.

“Glimmer, do you need to head out soon?” Perfuma asked, finishing the wine bottle. “Scorpia’s working a concert tonight, so I’m crashing here.”

“Soon, but I can hang out for a little while longer.”

“Great, because I found on a million pictures from school.” Mermista hit something on her phone and the lights dimmed, the TV coming to life. “There’s a whole sequence I call terrible haircuts Glimmer gave herself to piss off her mom.”

“Oh, great,” Glimmer said, settling back on the couch. She glanced at the time, trying to math out if she could still get back in time for bath and bedtime. This had been really nice, but she was looking forward to getting back to boring old home.

She looked at her teenage self on the screen, with a much fuller social life but weighed down by a million insecurities and doubts she hadn’t had in years.

Yeah.

Much happier now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last section, I said I was ending this and people got EMO about it so, congratulations; I have been peer pressured into continuing. So I will just keep on adding chapters to this randomly whenever I feel like it, just understand that at some point we’re probably going to have to jump backwards in time and tell parts of the story we skipped. You do not get a predictable, linear reading experience when you lovingly bully me into making a one-shot stretch this long, sorry. 
> 
> So, as you can probably tell, I’ve written a lot more of this than I’ve shown you but, whatever… Maybe someday I will share what my friends jokingly call The Forbidden Tuna Cans section. There are parts that probably seem kind of pointless without the context of the scenes you haven’t seen but, whatever, it’s my fic and I reserve the right to include pointless parts for my own reasons.
> 
> I have another 1-2 chapters coming up later this month tied to other Palentines prompts so expect that!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always hugely appreciated no matter how long after posting it is!
> 
> Visit my Tumblr for asks, fic updates and misc thoughts. [https://tippenfunkaport.tumblr.com](https://tippenfunkaport.tumblr.com/)


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